Apple starts a battle for the “Planet of the Apps”

Apple plans to release its own reality shows exclusively through its Apple Music service. The first of these is punnily titled “Planet of the Apps”; the show’s described by Macworld and Business Insider as “‘Shark Tank’ meets ‘The Voice.'” App developers will deliver an “escalator pitch” (yes, escalator) to a panel of celebrity judges. The judges for the initial episodes include Jessica Alba, Will.i.am, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Apple also plans to produce a version of “Carpool Karaoke” (James Corden’s popular late-night show segment).

So far, a sizable number of people have panned “App”‘s premise. Business Insider’s article lists more than a half-dozen tweets by iOS developers giving the show a thumbs down. See this snarky tweet from Paul Haddad, the developer of iOS Twitter app Tweetbot:

Macworld isn’t as harsh about “Apps,” but worries the concept might be too safe.

Given it’s just yet another reality show, I’m inclined to agree that it doesn’t sound like, well, the next “Shark Tank.” While there’s a lot of niche genre reality shows (ranging from pawnshops to cooking), I wonder if the premise will alienate both the general public and tech fans. App development unfortunately doesn’t appeal to the general public, who only care if (and not how) their favorite apps work on their phones. Actual programmers won’t care about the show’s gimmicky set-up, nor about pop culture celebrities judging apps. (I’ll also assume “Planet of the Apes” fans won’t care unless the set has a half-buried Statue of Liberty.)

The trailer for the series was released a few weeks ago:

Anyone interested in this series can check for more information on its (currently sparse) website.